Interview with the Author: Julie Seedorf and her Crook Hooking Granny

It’s time to meet another Cozy Cat author! Who do we have today? Why, Julie Seedorf, of course. Who is Julie Seedorf?

Julie Seedorf is a Minnesotan. She calls dinner, supper, and lunch, dinner. She has had many careers over her life time but her favorite career was motherhood. Later in life, she opened her own business as a computer technician, but you can’t keep a wordsmith silent. She also writes a column for southern Minnesota area newspapers called “Something About Nothing.

“Granny Hooks A Crook” is her first book for Cozy Cat Press. Her children’s book, “Whatchamacallit? Thingamajig?” was her first self-published book. Her theory is that we all take ourselves too seriously and we need to have a little fun. She secretly yearns to be like the Granny characters in her books.

Girls AND Grannies just want to have fun.

The Outside Lane: Tell us about GRANNY HOOKS A CROOK.

Julie Seedorf: Granny leads a secret life in the small, unique community of Fuschia, Minnesota. It’s not just her all junk food diet, multiplying pets, or her shocking bedtime attire that makes Granny one in a million. Believe it or not, Granny is an undercover cop, charged by “the Big Guy” (the town’s police chief) with preventing theft in local stores. Granny takes her job seriously and daily foils many shoplifters using her trusty spiked umbrella and amazing acting skills. When some startlingly brazen burglaries begin to occur that Granny can’t solve, along with mysteriously appearing bad guys, disappearing clerks, and misplaced Corvettes, Granny begins to wonder if she isn’t ready for the wrinkle farm. Maybe, it’s fortuitous when she accidentally-on-purpose falls in the lap of an attractive older gentleman who is soon roped into her wild adventures, as they try to figure out what’s happening in their little town.

Who can resist fan art?

TOL: That sounds like fun! What about…whatsamahoosit?

JS: WHATCHAMACALLIT? THINGAMAJIG? This is a children’s book. You see, Abby had her fingers full of chocolate cookie dough. She was putting her fingers to her mouth to sample a taste while no one was looking. Maggie, who was helping, had her back turned to Abby. She was sneaking a couple of chocolate chips out of the bag and into her mouth before she gave the bag to Abby to add the chips to the cookies. Both of them had their hands halfway to their mouth when the phone rang. They jumped and quickly dropped their hands to their sides as cousin Brady ran into the kitchen and snatched up the phone.

“Brady, Brady, all of you have to come quickly. I need your help,” screamed Grandma.

Yes Grandma is in trouble again and four cousins scramble to her aid. What they find when they look for her is a ransacked house, a missing Grandma and clues they don’t understand. What they learn about Grandma leaves them wide eyed and open mouthed.

TOL: How did you start writing?

JS: I started writing as a teenager. I found my love of writing when I took my first creative writing class my junior year in high school. Through the years I dabbled and wrote newspaper articles and things just for me. Occasionally I took college writing classes. When I was younger there was not much support to become a writer. It was not realistic so I followed the normal path and married, became a mom, worked various jobs and did a lot of volunteer work where I could use my creativity. It wasn’t until later life when I had a bad fall and was laid up for months that I started dreaming and writing again. That was when my column started. It took another illness and encouragement from my grandchildren to write my first book “Whatchamacallit? Thingamajig? Just for them. During that illness I realized that life is too short to not go for your dream or to use the gifts God has given you and writing “Granny Hooks A Crook” took me out of that illness and to become the person I had left behind.

TOL: Where do your ideas come from?

JS: Ideas come very easy to me. I get quirky ideas and the only way I can explain it is that they come from God. I used to write services for our church. I would say no, and then God would put the service in my head. So God.

A divinely inspired duo of books by Julie Seedorf.

TOL: Who is your favorite character?

JS: Granny, my main character, is probably the person that hides inside of all of us. We just don’t let it out. We forget the child inside and let society tell us we are old. Perhaps Granny is who I would like to be like in later years.

TOL: Thank you so much, Judy! Where do we find more information about you and your books?